


Scenery

by argentConflagration



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/M, Post-Sgrub AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-22
Updated: 2013-05-22
Packaged: 2017-12-12 14:34:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/812665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/argentConflagration/pseuds/argentConflagration
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You stick together, after the world ends. You might have thought that spending a sweep and a half stepping on the toes of the same handful of people would have made you all want to spread your wings, figuratively speaking, when you finally started living among other people, but the same quiet hesitation seems to come over everyone when any of you think about venturing out of the place you’re all staying. Staying inside and safe with people you trust is so much easier."</p>
<p>Karkat and Terezi adjust, together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Scenery

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Pippa6100 (tereziskyrope)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tereziskyrope/gifts).



You stick together, after the world ends. You might have thought that spending a sweep and a half stepping on the toes of the same handful of people would have made you all want to spread your wings, figuratively speaking, when you finally started living among other people, but the same quiet hesitation seems to come over everyone when any of you think about venturing out of the place you’re all staying. Staying inside and safe with people you trust is so much easier.

You can hardly begin to process it all, and you don’t think you’re alone in that. Aradia seems cheerfully at peace with it all, and she handles nearly all of the contact with the outside world, but she’s the only one. It helps, having your friends there. You have long talks with Dave about dumb shit—things that happened during the game, how fucked up this new place is—and even if you never say a word about what you really mean, you understand each other. And one time he cried, even if he did keep pouring out nonsense about rap and pop culture as he sobbed into your shoulder. And then he calmed down and you both pretended it’d never happened. Because that was the way things needed to be.

Kanaya’s your moirail, now. You have to admit it was kind of a relationship of convenience at first—you were on the rebound from Gamzee, she’d wanted a pale outlet to clear up her feelings for Rose. You weren’t all that intimate as moirails go: you made quick piles in her respiteblock but didn’t say much else to each other. You both needed someone to be there for you, and mutual gratitude kept you from breaking up as you gradually became less desperate. Little by little you became closer, and now you share a block and show each other a lot more of yourselves. You’d like to think you’re not as fucked up as you used to be, thanks to her.

As for Terezi … well, you still haven’t sorted yourselves out. You end up talking a lot, just because you like being around her and by some miracle she feels the same way, but you never come anywhere close to expressing the things you really want to say to her. It’s only after a lot of pushing and prodding on Kanaya’s part that you summon up the courage to ask her to go on a walk with you. It’s a not-date of the kind you’ve seen a thousand times in movies, arranged by a pushover who can’t bring himself to tell his longtime flushcrush he wants to date her, but maybe it’ll work. Maybe it’ll at least make something happen.

There’s barely anyone at the park, thankfully, and when you set out on your walk through the woods you can’t see or hear anyone else. For a change, the autumn weather seems to be conspiring in your favor: it’s not uncomfortably cold, just cool enough to make the warmth of each other’s touch pleasant. She chatters as you walk, about the oddities of the new world and what she’d like to do if your group ever manages to break out of this isolation and integrate yourselves. You listen, but you don’t have much to say, focusing instead on the way her hair moves in the breeze, the touch of her fingers on yours, and the sound of her voice against the distant birds and rustling leaves.

Terezi always takes the interesting paths, and you end up stepping across streams and climbing over rock ledges. One time you follow her down from an outcropping a few feet high, and end up stumbling into her before you can regain your balance. She gives you a shove right back, and the two of you end up toppled over on the forest floor, shoving and wrestling for dominance. The scuffle burns off some of your pent-up frustration at your emotional constipation when it comes to Terezi. It’s not really your fault. You like being her friend and you don’t want to lose that. But when she kneels over you and leans in close, she giggles and smiles, not a teasing grin but a genuine “I’m happy to be here with you” smile, and it makes your heart do flip-flops. Kanaya’s voice echoes in your head, reminding you that clear and effective communication is important to any relationship. Fuck it, you’re such a coward.

Marching onward, she leads you to the base of a waterfall, where you both sit down on a rock and rest a while. It’s pretty, as scenery goes, and you guess listening to the falling and splashing water must be as good as it gets for her when it comes to pretty nature-y things. She leans up against you, resting her head on your shoulder, and you remind yourself once again about the cool autumn air. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to just kind of … put your arm around her, pull her a little closer, and let your thoughts be drowned out by the sound of rushing water.

She chuckles against your chest. “You know I can hear your heartbeat? It’s racing.”

You should be embarrassed at this, but the part of you that wants her to know you’re in love with her is not small, and you’d rather be betrayed by your heart than by your words. So you don’t say anything, you just enjoy the feeling of her relaxing against you.

You don’t remember deciding to kiss her. All you know is that suddenly you aren’t paying attention to the scenery anymore, and neither is she, and in the next moment you realize that your faces are very close together and only getting closer. And you slowly close your eyes, the better to hear the jolt of your heart when your lips meet hers. Just like that, you’re kissing her. You were sure it would be awkward and horrible and she’d never want to speak to you again, but the curve of your lips matches perfectly with the curve of hers, and she’s bringing her hand around behind your head to keep you in place. Maybe, just maybe, she doesn’t want to let you go.

When you finally pull away to figure out breathing again, she immediately wraps her arms around you, and maybe breathing will have to be put on hold. But after another instant she jumps up and offers you her hand and takes off along the path, running and skipping and babbling like she’s going to burst. She runs out fifty feet in front of you and then dashes right back. She pins you against a tree and kisses you, on the mouth and all over your face, sighing out “oh, Karkat” between breaths. You can do nothing but stand and stare and be in love with this girl.

When you finally make it back to the house, it’s nearly dark, and you’re both a little breathless. Kanaya gives you a satisfied smirk before discreetly asking whether she should make preparations to sleep in Rose’s room. You flush and stutter, and—damn her sensitive hearing—Terezi waltzes right up to Kanaya and insinuates that that might be necessary.

And Terezi does end up sleeping with you, in the more innocent sense of the term. After you’ve had your fill of making out on the couch while ignoring the movie playing in the background, you curl up together on the bed, wracked and exhausted with happiness. There’s still so much you want to say to her: “Terezi, I’m flushed for you; Terezi, you mean everything to me,” but it’s all frozen and choked inside of you, so you hope that lying next to her like this is enough.

You think you hear her say “I love you” before you fall asleep.


End file.
